CHICAGO—Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks had been there before—quite a few times, in fact.

They trailed the Chicago Bears 14-10 in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on Sunday and appeared headed for yet another narrow road defeat.

This time, it ended differently.

Seattle's 23-17 overtime victory may have signaled something big about the direction the Seahawks are headed, if not the end of the line for the faltering Bears.

"That is what the NFL is about: Playing in tough situations when the game is on the line and guys have to make plays and have to execute," Wilson said, sounding more like a veteran quarterback than a player with 12 games experience.

Wilson's 23-for-37, 293-yard day was remarkable in itself, as was the 97-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive that ended on his 14-yard pass to Golden Tate for a 17-14 Seattle lead. It seemed to indicate the Seahawks had improved to 2-5 on the road.

However, this time Wilson had to do it twice, as Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall produced a playground miracle 56-yard pass to set up a tying field goal.

No problem. Wilson merely scooted around and threw over a frazzled, worn-out looking, aging Bears defense in an 80-yard drive to the win. And when he couldn't run around them or throw over them, he moved around until he could throw through them.

"We've been there so many times," coach Pete Carroll said. "This could have happened four times already this year. And now everybody knows it can."

Wilson executed the read-option to perfection, while also throwing as he scrambled. He made the most of every second he held the football in his hand and essentially became a point guard on the field.

Then Wilson acted like a veteran when he addressed the Seahawks in the huddle in overtime before leading an 80-yard drive.

"I told those guys, 'you know guys, this is what the season comes down to, right here, right now. We have 97 yards to go, we have to play one play at a time, stay in it now and execute.' "

Earlier in the game, Wilson was acting well beyond a rookie's years when he told coaches the Bears would be vulnerable to the read-option run. Chicago had no problem stopping this against Carolina and Cam Newton, but this time chasing Wilson around as he rolled and bootleg appeared to take a toll.

"I think that as the game went on, I continued to tell the coaches and they saw it, too," he said. "Especially in that last quarter and in the end of the game. The read option was wide open pretty much."

Wilson started the game-winning drive with an 11-yard read-option run around right end, getting past defensive end Israel Idonije with ease. Then on a third-and-2, Wilson picked up five yards on the read-option for a first down to the Bears' 42. His game-winning TD pass of 13 yards to Sidney Rice was another display of buying time with his feet before making the play.

The Bears pride themselves on team defense and speed, but their defensive front looked frustrated as Wilson ran for 71 yards and hurt them repeatedly by moving and throwing.

"We let him out a few too many times," defensive tackle Henry Melton said. "It was something that we were trying to work on all week, trying to keep him in there. They threw some different things at us, but we definitely should have had him a few times locked in there.

"You've got to keep that edge there. We were working on that all week. And we knew he was going to do it. We just let him out."

Wilson didn't get the notoriety of RG3 or Andrew Luck. Even Ryan Tannehill seemed to get more respect across the league.

Some wondered whether Carroll had signed off on his own firing by leaving more experienced Matt Flynn on the bench after signing him in free agency.

The upset Wilson achieved over Green Bay earlier in the year was credited to the replacement officials. This one goes entirely to Wilson's development as a quarterback.

"Our quarterback is amazing," Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said. "Hats off to him. Not too many rookies come into Chicago, Soldier Field and drive 95 yards against the Chicago Bears, 'Monsters of the Midway' and win the game. He drove 97 then 80 to win it in overtime.

"I think he should get Rookie of the Year considerations, he should get a lot of considerations, even over the other guys because he is leading our team in great games."

The win put the 7-5 Seahawks a game up in the chase for the last NFC wild card spot, and with only one game left against a team with a winning record—the 49ers—the chances Wilson will get an opportunity to put his talents on display in postseason appear much greater. Only one of those games is away from CenturyLink Field.

For the Bears (8-4), there will be rumblings about a fading, old defense that looked slow at game's end -- and hurt. Brian Urlacher limped off the field on the overtime drive with a hamstring injury, while cornerback Tim Jennings suffered a shoulder injury.

The Bears have lost three of four, fell back into a tie with Green Bay for first in the NFC North, and the Seattle third-down conversion rate (53 percent, eight of 15) had coach Lovie Smith shaking his head. His Bears had been 64-10 when leading after three quarters, but looked gassed at game's end trying to chase down Wilson.

"Fatigue plays in when you don't get off the field on third downs -- and then you don't get off on fourth downs," Smith said. "If you don't get off the field on third downs, you're going to see it (fatigue) later on."

They did. It can get tiresome chasing around a potential Rookie of the Year candidate time after time.